'That's not football': Zidane blasts snow-hit pitch as Real Madrid held
Zinedine Zidane said Real Madrid's goalless pull with Osasuna on Saturday was "not really a football match" and should have already been called off after Spain was reach by a snowstorm.
Madrid missed the chance to overtake Atletico Madrid near the top of La Liga and allowed Barcelona to creep closer following Lionel Messi scored twice on a 4-0 victory over Granada.
Atletico's match at home to Athletic Bilbao previously Saturday was postponed as a result of snow, meaning Diego Simeone's side are best with three games in hand over their rivals.
Osasuna's pitch found in Pamplona was certainly damaged by the snowfall, especially in the centre third, but large parts had been green and the referee decided the overall game should go ahead.
"We played the overall game because they advised us to play the overall game however the conditions were very difficult," said Zidane.
"For me this is not really a football match. In the end we played, and that is it."
Real Madrid are due to play Athletic Bilbao on Malaga on Thursday on the Spanish Super Cup semi-finals.
"We don't know what we're going to do nowadays, whether we stay below tomorrow or if we're going to travel on Mon, we'll see."
Zidane added: "It isn't a justification. What everyone really wants to see is certainly a football match and today the conditions weren't met to see a football match."
Messi scored twice against Granada to create it four goals found in three suits for him because the turn of the entire year and his resurgence has coincided with an upturn for the crew too, this success Barca's third on the bounce.
"We are calmer," said Barca mentor Ronald Koeman. "We have to stay humble, to preserve working and winning."
Messi's double, the next a sweetly-struck free-kick, came between two strikes from Antoine Griezmann, who's also enjoying a revival after a good disappointing 18 months at Camp Nou.
Some had wondered if Messi would ever make contact with his best following an underwhelming learn to the growing season but his latest contribution makes him the league's top scorer on 11 goals, five a few months after he tried to leave.
- 'Good Messi interaction' -
"From day 1, my interactions with Leo have been good," said Koeman. "We're employed to this, if there are always a couple of video games where he doesn't score, you will have a couple of men and women who'll be unhappy, but not me, never."
Koeman deserves credit rating for the rejuvenation of players like Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong, most of whom have improved considerably in recent matches.
Barcelona's recovery has a long way to run, with unresolved concerns on / off the pitch more likely to resurface prior to the end of the season.
Yet Koeman will desire a corner has been turned and at a good time, with the Champions Group last 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain to come the following month and a huge chunk of the group calendar still remaining.
Barca's first goal was fortunate, after Roberto Soldado's lashed clearance saw the ball sliced backwards to Griezmann, who touched and shot former Rui Silva.
Griezmann was the instigator for the second too, the Frenchman traveling forward to the border of the area before transferring interior to Messi. Messi was presented with the yard he had a need to change onto his left feet and curl home.
Messi managed to get three from an identical position, only on the advantage of the container, this time with a good free-kick, which he harpooned in to the corner.
Griezmann added a good fourth by firing found in a scooped pass from Dembele on the switch. Messi gone off with almost around 30 minutes left, his work currently done, while Granada's Jesus Vallejo was dispatched off late on.
Granada was spared the awful circumstances that swept across a lot of the country, with the snowfall found in Madrid on Fri the heaviest since 1971.
In Pamplona, Real Madrid struggled to breakdown a determined Osasuna defence.
Karim Benzema went closest after he scrambled the ball in, and then be called offside.
Atletico's game in the home to Athletic Bilbao was postponed after Bilbao's players were not able to terrain and returned to Bilbao in early stages Friday evening.
Sevilla could actually play against Real Sociedad and won a five-goal thriller 3-2, with Youssef En-Nesyri grabbing a good hat-trick in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Defeat means Real Sociedad possess won only one of their last 6 fits. They drop to 5th, level on factors with Sevilla.
